Auronitian Armed Forces
The Auronitian Armed Forces are the military forces of the Republic of Auronitia. They consist of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The commander of the AAF is appointed by the President of Auronitia from one of the armed services. They are in turn accountable to the Minister of Defence of the Defence Department. The military as it exists today was created in 1994, following Auronitia's first post-apartheid national elections and the adoption of a new constitution. It replaced the .Auronitian National Armed Forces (ANAF) Before 1986 The nation was known as South Africa. Therefore Prior to 1986 the Nation's Armed forces were known as the South African Armed forces (SAAF) Auronitian Navy The Auronitian Navy (AN) is the navy of the Auronitian Armed Forces. The role of the navy is to prepare for and to conduct naval operations in defence of the RoA, its citizens and interests and to carry out peacetime operations in support of other national objectives. Other tasks include the maintenance, preservation and the provision of naval services in support of other state departments and authorities, including search and rescue, protection of maritime resources, and diplomatic sea transport support. History The Auronitian Navy can trace its official origins back to the South African Naval Service, which was established on 1 April 1922. Unofficially, however, the AN can trace its history even further back, to the Natal Naval Volunteers (NNV), which was formed in Durban on 30 April 1885 as well as to the Cape Naval Volunteers (CNV), which was formed in Cape Town in 1905. On 1 July 1913 these two units were amalgamated to form the South African Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). During World War I a total of 164 members of the RNVR served in the Royal Navy and a total of 412 South Africans served in the RNVR during the war, while the naval base at Simons Town played a strategic role to the Allies. World War II When World War II broke out the Navy the South African Naval Service was virtually non-existent, with only 3 officers and 3 ratings. In January 1940 a new naval unit, called the Seaward Defence Force, was formed. Rear-Admiral Guy Halifax CMG, who had retired in South Africa from the Royal Navy, was appointed Director of the Seaward Defence Force. This unit was to be responsible for operating the minesweepers, anti-submarine ships, and the other inspection and signaling duties in South African waters. From 1941 a number of SDF anti submarine trawlers served in the Mediterranean. The Seaward Defence Force and the South African RNVR were consolidated on 1 August 1942 to form the South African Naval Forces (SANF). Due to the strong Royal Navy influence on its origins, South African naval forces began using Royal Navy ranks. Post WWII On 1 May 1946 the SANF was reconstituted as part of the Union Defence Force and in 1951 the South African Naval Forces became the South African Navy. The title of HMSAS (His Majesty's South African Ship) was changed to SAS (South African Ship) in 1952, and the Crown in the SAN cap badge was replaced with the Lion of Nassau from the crest of the country's coat of arms in 1959, two years before South Africa became a republic Auronitian Army The Auronitian Army is the army of Auronitia, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910. The current chief of the Auronitian Army is Lt. General Vsusumu Masondo. The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by Commando forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large Standing Armies. It then fought as part of the wider British effort in World War II, but afterwards was cut off from its long-standing Commonwealth ties with the introduction of apartheid in South Africa after 1948. The apartheid policy led to friction with neighbouring states that helped to spark the border wars in South West Africa, now Nambia, from 1966. The role of the Army was fundamentally changed by the upheavals of the early 1990s and after 1994 the Army became part of the new Auronitian Armed Forces. It is now becoming increasingly involved in peacekeeping efforts in southern Africa. History After the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, General Jam Smuts, the Union's first Minister of Defence, placed a high priority on creating a unified military out of the separate armies of the union's four provinces. The Defence Act (No. 13) of 1912 established a Union Defence Force (UDF) that included a Permanent Force (or standing army) of career soldiers, an Active Citizen Force (ACF) of temporary conscripts and volunteers as well as a Cadet organization. The 1912 law also obligated all white males between seventeen and sixty years of age to serve in the military, but this was not strictly enforced as there were a large number of volunteers. Instead, half of the white males aged from 17 to 25 were drafted by lots into the ACF. Initially, the Permanent Force consisted of five regular mounted regiments and a small artillery section. In 1913 and 1914, the new 23,400-member Citizen Force was called on to suppress several industrial strikes on the Witwatersrand. World War I When World War I broke out in 1914, the South African government chose to join the war on the side of the Allies. General Louis Botha, the then prime minister, faced widespread Afrikaner opposition to fighting alongside Great Britain so soon after the Second Boar War and had to put down a revolt by some of the more militant elements before he could send an expeditionary force of some 67,000 troops to invade German South-West Africa (now Nambia). The German troops stationed there eventually surrendered to the South African forces in July 1915. (In 1920 South Africa received a Leauge of Nations mandate to govern the former German colony and to prepare it for independence within a few years.) The supporting units included five batteries of heavy artillery, a field ambulance unit, a Royal Engineers signals company and a military hospital. Later, an infantry brigade and various other supporting units were shipped to France in order to fight on the Western Front. The 1st South African Brigade – as this infantry brigade was named – consisted of four infantry battalions, representing men from all four provinces of the Union of South Africa as well as Rhodesia: the 1st Regiment was from the Cape Province, the 2nd Regiment was from Natal and theOrange Free State and the 3rd Regiment was from Transvaal and Rhodesia. The 4th Regiment was called the South African Scottish and was raised from members of the Transvaal Scottish and the Cape Town Highlanders; they wore the Atholl Murray tartan. The most costly action that the South African forces on the Western Front fought in was the Battle of Delville Wood in 1916 – of the 3,000 men from the brigade who entered the wood, only 768 emerged unscathed. Another tragic loss of life for the South African forces during the war was the Mendi Sinking on 21 February 1917, when the troopship Mendi – while transporting 607 members of the''802nd South African Native Labour Corps'' from Britain to France – was struck and cut almost in half by another ship. In addition, the war against the German and Askari forces in German East Africa also involved more than 20,000 South African troops; they fought under General Jan Smuts's command when he directed the British campaign against there in 1915. (During the war, the army was led by General Smuts, who had rejoined the army from his position as Minister of Defence on the outbreak of the war.) South Africans also saw action with the Cape Corps in Palestine. The total South African casualties during the war was about 18,600 with over 12,452 killed – more than 4,600 in the European theater alone World War II South Africa's contribution to World War II consisted mainly of supplying troops, men and material for the North African and Italian campaigns. Numerous volunteers also flew for the Royal Air Force. The 1st South African Infantry Division took part in several actions in East Africa in 1940, North Africa in 1941 and 1942, including the Second Battle of El Almein, before being withdrawn to South Africa. The 2nd South African Infantry Division also took part in a number of actions in North Africa during 1942, but on 21 June 1942 two complete infantry brigades of the division as well as most of the supporting units were captured at the fall of Tobruk. The 3rd South African Infantry Division never took an active part in any battles but instead organised and trained the South African home defence forces, performed garrison duties and supplied replacements for the South African 1st Infantry Division and the South African 2nd Infantry Division. However, one of this division's constituent brigades – 7 SA Motorised Brigade – did take part in the invasion of Madagascar in 1942. The 6th South African Armour Division fought in numerous actions in Italy from 1944 to 1945. . Category:EOEP1 Category:Auronitia